Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
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Allen Archaeological Associates were commissioned by the National Trust to carry out a programme of trial excavation to support a planning application for a new car park and visitor's centre in the grounds of Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield. Previous work in the area had identified numerous scatters of prehistoric worked flints. |
 Site Director Chris Clay monitoring machine excavation of one of the evauation trenches.
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| Nine trenches were excavated by machine, after which test pits were excavated in each trench to look for the expected prehistoric finds. Surprisingly, no evidence of prehistoric activity was recorded across the site. |
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However, two of the trenches contained evidence for the quarrying of the local stone and the burning of lime to make mortar. A large lime burning pit was excavated in one trench, and another trench exposed a number of quarry pits that had been backfilled with burnt waste materials from the burning process.
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 The large circular lime burning pit. Layers of ash and burnt material can be seen in section, and the reddened bedrock at the base of the pit is evidence for in-situ burning.
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There was very little dating evidence from these features, other than a single fragment of worked stone from the lime burning pit. The stone was carved from local Red Mansfield stone, which was not used at Hardwick Hall until the later 19th century. This suggests the lime burning was taking place in the late 19th or early 20th century.
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 West facing section of the lime burning pit, showing the worked stone fragment in situ.
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